On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:28:57 -0700, Keyboard In The Wilderness wrote:

I looked up my lighter circuit and it is 8 amps -- so 8 x 12 = 96 Watts --
at 50% or so efficiency -- should handle a 45 watt radio -- but that is
pushing it to say nothing of stray noise that may be introduced and a
possible voltage drop. Also the cigarette lighter may go thru the ignition
switching.


That was my thinking. As a note, I was just talking to a buddy of mine
with an Excursion. His "lighter plug" is actually labeled "accessory plug"
and had a 20A fuse in it from the factory. That tool replaced it with a
30A fuse so he could run his inverter rated at 25A. We won't discuss that
call any further.

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the firewall
without drilling.

That's good to know. I'll have to poke around a bit more and see what I
can find in my 2002 Impala. I did have real good luck this afternoon on my
'97 Silverado 2500. The previous owner had already run 12g through the
firewall, so I had a hole to work with. I rewired it primarily because I
wasn't sure what he had done - it was a bit confusing.

Anyway, on the Silverado there are two "taps" - basically large studs -
along side of the fuse box. Each stud is hot and fused right in the box
with a 30A fuse. I made up a couple of cables and ran these right into the
cab using the existing hole. Found a good ground spot right on the
firewall, so it's nice and short as well! Both cables are about 5' in
length. Of course while these studs look stock (the fuse box cover
actually is molded to fit right over them) they might not be, so if
you happen to have a Silverado and don't see these studs don't blame me!

I'm sure the Impala won't be quite as easy.

--
John LeMay
kc2kth
Senior Technical Manager
NJMC | http://www.njmc.com | Phone 732-557-4848
Specializing in Microsoft and Unix based solutions

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 18:13:44 -0400, John LeMay
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:28:57 -0700, Keyboard In The Wilderness wrote:

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the firewall
without drilling.

That's good to know. I'll have to poke around a bit more and see what I
can find in my 2002 Impala. I did have real good luck this afternoon on my
'97 Silverado 2500. The previous owner had already run 12g through the
firewall, so I had a hole to work with. I rewired it primarily because I
wasn't sure what he had done - it was a bit confusing.

Car stereo places and installers are sometimes a good resource for
this sort of thing, as they need the same type of feedthrough.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the
firewall without drilling.


One choice I've resorted to on a number of installations in sedans is
to locate where the major cable bundle on the driver's side firewall goes
through. It is usually embedded in a very large rubber seal. I usually
can take a sharp flat bladed screwdriver and poke a hold in this rubber,
being careful not to hit the cables in the center bundle. Poking a #14
black and red wires through this new slot is not difficult and usually
provides adequate power from the battery to most dash mounted radios and
other equipment.


Ed

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the
firewall without drilling.


One choice I've resorted to on a number of installations in sedans is
to locate where the major cable bundle on the driver's side firewall goes
through. It is usually embedded in a very large rubber seal. I usually
can take a sharp flat bladed screwdriver and poke a hold in this rubber,
being careful not to hit the cables in the center bundle. Poking a #14
black and red wires through this new slot is not difficult and usually
provides adequate power from the battery to most dash mounted radios and
other equipment.


Ed

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 23:20:22 +0000, Gary S. wrote:

Car stereo places and installers are sometimes a good resource for this
sort of thing, as they need the same type of feedthrough.

Well, just a follow up on this. I gave in and went to the local car stereo
installer and had them do the job. While I was at it, I had them install a
small (3") 12V fan for some extra air flow. I wanted to install the rig in
an enclosed area in the console that was just wide enough for the rig,
about 10" deep and about 8" high. This "pocket" was all plastic -
including the back - however there was nothing behind the pocket under the
dash. The installer cut a small hole for the fan and tied it so that if
the car is on, so is the fan. It's pretty quiet most of the time as well.

Anyhow, the fan moves about 22cf/m of air into this pocket and out the
front right across the heat sink of the radio (the entire bottom of the
rig on the Yaesu 8800). It keeps the rig nice and cool even in pretty
heavy duty cycles at 20W or so. I haven't run the rig "wide open" for any
length of time yet, but I'm willing to bet the rig would still stay pretty
cool.

Thanks for all the input. I'm much happier not having wires running around
the cabin into the cigar lighter. Now that everything is wired, I have the
lighter adapter to use in my wife's car when needed for those short trips.

--
John LeMay
kc2kth
Senior Technical Manager
NJMC | http://www.njmc.com | Phone 732-557-4848
Specializing in Microsoft and Unix based solutions

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 23:20:22 +0000, Gary S. wrote:

Car stereo places and installers are sometimes a good resource for this
sort of thing, as they need the same type of feedthrough.

Well, just a follow up on this. I gave in and went to the local car stereo
installer and had them do the job. While I was at it, I had them install a
small (3") 12V fan for some extra air flow. I wanted to install the rig in
an enclosed area in the console that was just wide enough for the rig,
about 10" deep and about 8" high. This "pocket" was all plastic -
including the back - however there was nothing behind the pocket under the
dash. The installer cut a small hole for the fan and tied it so that if
the car is on, so is the fan. It's pretty quiet most of the time as well.

Anyhow, the fan moves about 22cf/m of air into this pocket and out the
front right across the heat sink of the radio (the entire bottom of the
rig on the Yaesu 8800). It keeps the rig nice and cool even in pretty
heavy duty cycles at 20W or so. I haven't run the rig "wide open" for any
length of time yet, but I'm willing to bet the rig would still stay pretty
cool.

Thanks for all the input. I'm much happier not having wires running around
the cabin into the cigar lighter. Now that everything is wired, I have the
lighter adapter to use in my wife's car when needed for those short trips.

--
John LeMay
kc2kth
Senior Technical Manager
NJMC | http://www.njmc.com | Phone 732-557-4848
Specializing in Microsoft and Unix based solutions

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 18:13:44 -0400, John LeMay
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:28:57 -0700, Keyboard In The Wilderness wrote:

Somehow on all my cars I find a grommet that lets me get thru the firewall
without drilling.

That's good to know. I'll have to poke around a bit more and see what I
can find in my 2002 Impala. I did have real good luck this afternoon on my
'97 Silverado 2500. The previous owner had already run 12g through the
firewall, so I had a hole to work with. I rewired it primarily because I
wasn't sure what he had done - it was a bit confusing.

Car stereo places and installers are sometimes a good resource for
this sort of thing, as they need the same type of feedthrough.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom